Letter to the editor: SB271 needs support

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In a guest column last Saturday, Darcie Goodman, the executive director for the League to Save LakeTahoe, indicated that the League will be advocating to the Nevada Legislature for the repeal of SB271 on the grounds that the League has demonstrated a willingness to compromise by not opposing the final version of the Regional Plan Update.

If SB271 is repealed, what then? We have experienced more than 40 years of obstructionism by environmental groups in the basin. If compromises have been made, it is not only because SB271 has threatened TRPA's existence, but the means in which the League and other such groups have exercised power over land-use in the basin.

I voted in November, with the rest of the City Council, in support of the RPU, despite the fact that I have been a long opponent of this unelected body, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. Why? I felt there was an opportunity to provide greater flexibility to land-use planning for the benefit of our community. Yet, I am under no illusion that if SB271 is repealed, the League and other environmental groups will again revert back to their old ways. The council supported the RPU with the hope that the forthcoming regulatory details will be consistent with the promises made by TRPA and the spirit of the RPU. If SB271 is repealed, history will repeat itself and no progress in land-use regulations will occur.

Let's face it, if the League would have filed legal challenges against the RPU, it would have assured the continued existence of SB271. Their forebarance is merely a political ploy to defeat the first challenge to their power in 40 years. I urge all citizens to visit the Nevada Legislature this year to voice support for SB271.